Lid sealer



April 1941' J. z. HUMBERT 2,238,775

LID SEALER Filed llay 2, 1940 Patented Apr. 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ln) SEALER Jacob Z.Humbert, North' 'Canton, Ohio Application May 2, 1940, Serial No. 333,000

(or gig-15.1)

4 Claims.

The invention relates generally to tools for sealing container closures such as Mason jar lids, and more particularly to an improved tool for tightening and sealing old and new lids.

The rim flange on the conventional Mason jar lid is thin and flexible and easily bent or distorted so that a good seal is not made between the lid and the usual rubber gasket on which the rim flange seats, and this unsatisfactory seal sometimes occurs with new lids as well as old ones because the new lids are often subjected to considerable handling or comparatively rough treatment before they are put in use.

Separate tools have been provided for'straightening jar lids, but the straightening operation has been performed prior to and apart from the sealing operation, thus requiring added time, labor and equipment.

My prior Patent No. 1,903,388, issued April 4, 1933, discloses a cup-shaped lid sealer which works ,very well under ordinary conditions, but I have discovered that when the rounded threads of the jar lid are bent or distorted, the'side wall of the cup-shaped sealer tends to bind on' the lid and prevent sufficient engagement of thesealer with the rim flange to force the rim flange into the rubber gasket and seal the'lid. Moreover, such cup-shaped lid sealer requires that the lid be screwed on the jar with a reasonable degree of tightness before the sealer is applied.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved lid sealing tool which is adapted for tightening and sealing a Mason jar lid with'one continuous movement of the tool.

Another object is to provide a jar lid sealer which is so constructed as to cause a minimum amount of friction with the lid during the sealing operation, thus providing a sealer which is easily used by inexperienced persons or children.

A further object is to provide an improved lid sealer which insulates the hand of the user from the jar lid, so that the sealer is adapted for sealing jar lids when they are hot.

A more specific object is to provide a lid sealer which will eifectively seal bent and distorted jar lids, and which is so constructed as not to bind on the side of the rim when the same is bent or drawn out of shape.

And finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel lid sealer which embodies all of the foregoing objectives in a simple, compact and inexpensively made tool, which is easily applied to a jar lid to eifectively seal the same with a minimum amount of time and effort.

7 These and other objects are accomplished by the improvements comprising the presentinvention, which may be briefly defined as including a shallow circular cap engaging over the top of a jar lid and mounting a convexly rounded roller adapted to engage the rim flange of the lid, and a rubber gripping ring engirdling said cap and having depending grip portions adjacent to said roller at opposite sides thereof.

Referring to the accompanying drawing in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary View showing the improved lid sealer in cross section screwed on the top of a Mason jar lid;

Fig. 2 is a detached perspective view of the rubber gripping ring part of the sealer Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of the metal cap part of the sealer; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan sectional view showing the frictional engagement between the depending flange of the metal cap and the top im portion of the jar lid.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

The improved lid sealer preferably includes a circular metal cap indicated at 5 having a shallow depending flange 6 around the major portion of its periphery, for fitting over the top rim portion .of a conventional Mason jar lid indicatedat M.

The depth of the flange 5 is such that it engages over the top portion only of the jar lid, which top portion is reinforced by the'usual glass or porcelain insert, so that even if the side wall of the l lid becomes bent or distorted, the cap 5 will not bind thereon.

At one side of the cap 5 the depending flange 6 is discontinued and an ear 9 depends from the cap preferably at a slight angle to the vertical. A roller I0 is journaled in said ear 9 and said roller preferably has a convexly rounded periphery [0a for engaging the outer edge of the rim flange m of the jar lid. The angle of the ear 9 in which the roller is journaled is such that when the cap 5 is rotated on the Jar lid M the roller makes point contact with the rim flange m and forces it downwardly and inwardly into sealing engagement with the rubber gasket R.

In order to further reduce friction between the cap and jar lid, spaced indentations II are provided in the top wall of the cap for making a two point bearing on the top surface of the jar lid, and the depending flange 6 of the cap is provided with spaced inwardly disposed depressions or ribs It for making two point contact with the side of the top rim portion of the jar lid. Accordingly, when the cap 5 is pressed downwardly over the jar lid M and rotated thereon, the op eration is a very easy one because the cap contacts the lid at five points only, namely at the two indentations II, the two ribs I2 and the rounded periphery Illa of the roller I 0.

The cap 5 is preferably detachably held in a gripping ring I3 of resilient material such as rubber which fits tightly around the depending flange 6 of the cap and over the outer portion of the top wall thereof. Opposite the roller Hi, the gripping ring is provided with a depending flange portion [4 which is substantially the same depth as the flange B of the cap so that the rubber ring does not bind on the side wall of the jar lid M.

From the flange portion I4 the gripping ring tapers downwardly at each side to form two depending grip portions I5, one at each side of the roller l0, and these grip portions extend down- Ward closely adjacent to the rim flange m of the jarlid. Preferably, the grip portions 15 are pro- In the operation of the improved lid sealer the Jar lid M may be placed loosely in position on top of the jar when it is desired to seal the contents thereof, and the sealer is then placed over the jar lid in the position shown in Fig. 1. The

operator then squeezes inwardly with his fingers on the grip portions l5 and rotates the seal-er to screw the jar lid M tightly on the jar so that the rim flange m engages the rubber gasket B. After the lid is screwed down tightly in this fashion, the operator merely decreases the pressure of his fingers on the grip portions l5 and continues to rotate the sealer while pressing downwardly on the top thereof, which causes the grip portions to slide on the lid and the roller ID to roll on and around the rim flange m and force the same into perfect sealing engagement with the rubber gasket around the entire periphery of the rim flange. I

If it is desired to seal Mason jars while hot, as is usually done during canning, the rubber gripping ring 13 acts as a heat insulator to protect the hand of the operator from the hot jar lid during both the tightening and sealing operations, so that the necessity for using cloths and serve somewhat as a wrench to tighten the jar lid, and after the same is tightened relative rotation of the sealer on the lid causes the roller to roll and seal the rim flange. The improved sealer is adapted for use with new or old lids and due to the minimum amount of friction between the sealer and the jar lid, it is operable easily by children or persons With little strength.

I claim:

1. Jar lid tightening and sealing means including a cap having a depending flange engaging over the top rim only of a jar lid, a roller journaled on said cap at one side thereof for engaging the sealing rim flange at the bottom of said lid, a gripping ring of resilient material engirdling said cap and having a depending flange opposite the roller substantially equal in depth to the cap depending flange, and a finger grip portion depending from the gripping ring at each side. of said roller for gripping the jar lid to tighten the same,

2. Jar lid tightening and. sealing means including a cap having a depending flange engaging over the top rim only of a jar lid, a roller journaled on said cap at one side thereof for engaging the sealing rim flange at the bottom of said lid, and a rubber ring fitting tightly over said cap and having depending flange portions at each side of said roller for gripping the jar lid to tighten the same and having a shallow depending flange opposite the roller.

3. Jar lid tightening and sealing means including a cap having a depending flange engaging over the top rim only of a jar lid, a roller journaled on said cap at one side thereof for engaging the sealing rim flange at the bottom of said lid, a rubber gripping member fitting tightly around said cap and having a depending annular flange, said annular flange at opposite sides of said roller being substantially equal in depth to said jar lid, and said annular flange opposite the roller being substantially equal in depth to said cap depending flange.

4. Jar lid tightening and sealing means includ ing a cap having a depending flange engaging over the top rim only of a jar lid, a roller journaled .on said cap at one side thereof for engaging the sealing rim flange at the bottom of said lid, a gripping ring of resilient material fitting tightly around said'oap and having a depending finger grip portion, whereby said jar lid may be tightened and then sealed by one continuous turning movement of the tightening and sealing means.

JACOB Z. HUMBERT. 

